Eldest
The Eldest are an intelligent, nonhuman species that lived on Ethos in the distant past and are now extinct. The exact history of the Eldest is lost to time. The most commonly held beliefs about the species come from myths in the Codex Baruc. The Eldest were known to be able to work magic. A small handful of artifacts have survived to the 17th century, most notable among them being the Astral Gate network. Known Information The common scholarly consensus on the Eldest is that they have been extinct for between 10,000 and 50,000 years, long enough that only fossilized bones remain. It is possible that the Eldest have been extinct for a longer time frame, but this is considered unlikely, given the complexity of their artifacts that have survived. The Carolingean Lotus is held up as an incredibly intricate construct that, even in its crumbling state, is not believed to be capable of being much older. Only the skeletal structure of the Eldest is known for certain. They were much larger than humans, standing twice the height of a man despite having a slanting posture similar to large birds. The Eldest had a long tail for balance, with a spine measuring approximately sixteen feet long from neck to tip of the tail. The Eldest had a large crest starting at the forehead and extending approximately eighteen inches past the back of the skull. They had five limbs, including the tail. The two upper limbs were human-like arms possessing three fingers and an opposable thumb. Lower limbs had backward knees and four digits, three facing forward and one toe facing backwards, likely to compensate for the angle of their legs. Eldest feet and tails are not believed to be prehensile. Analysis of teeth and jaw construction suggests that the Eldest were omnivorous Whether the Eldest wore clothing is unclear, but precious metals have been found among specimens, suggesting that they wore jewelry. Whether this jewelry was aesthetic or a functional anchor for enchantments is unknown; enchanted and unenchanted jewelry have both been discovered, but it is unknown whether the mundane items had simply failed over time. Such Eldest writing that has survived is hieroglyphic in nature. Differences in hieroglyphs have been noted regionally, suggesting that the Eldest had many written (and presumably spoken) languages. There are no known translations to any human language that are considered accurate. The intricacy of Eldest artifacts suggests that the Eldest had reached a level of magical mastery that humanity has yet to even approach. The magical school of translocation is only known to exist because of Eldest artifacts; no human has ever been able to replicate it on even the smallest scale. The Eldest are believed to have created the Stitch in Time as their final act. Mythic History According to the Codex Baruc, the Eldest were created by the god Elohim around the same time that the goddess Ogdilla created the Firstborn. The two elder races coexisted peacefully for a time before eventually coming into conflict. While initially evenly matched, the normally isolated Firstborn began to consolidate their holdings. They built their only city in the center of Ethos primary continent. United Firstborn proved more than the Eldest could handle. The War dragged on for many decades, with the Eldest taking higher and higher losses. As their numbers dwindled to only a few hundred, the Eldest were forced to face reality: they could not win, and no longer had sufficient genetic diversity to repopulate. And so a final course of action was decided upon. Using their art of translocational magic mixed with a school of magic for which humanity has no name, the last cadre of Eldest wizards teleported into the heart of the Firstborn city and tore a hole in the fabric of the world. The Stitch in Time was the result. In an instant, the Firstborn city was swallowed up into the distorted reality of the Stitch...and presumably whatever it led to. The Eldest were wiped out, and all Firstborn within the city followed them, leaving only a few scattered individuals on Ethos. The world is known to have changed in their absence. Theologists claim that this was the result of Baruc flooding the world to start over. Wizards and natural philosophers believe that the Stitch itself changed the face of Ethos. Flora and fauna became smaller, the air less oxygenated. Ceskan Incident There is an apocryphal story of an Eldest Lich being uncovered by humans at some point in the 14th century. Details on the story vary, but the most common elements are as follows: An expedition in the 14th century discovered an untouched tomb a few days ride from the city of Ceska. Upon opening the tomb, the prospectors torches all brightened noticeably, and the air had a different smell to it, one that would not be attributed solely to must. Inside the tomb, they discovered a living Eldest, sealed away for all this time. The Lich killed the majority of the crew and ran to the surface. The survivors followed, trying to escape the tomb. They heard the Lich breathing heavily during its climb. Upon reaching the surface, it began to hack and wheeze, unable to catch its breath. It died a few minutes after reaching the surface, apparently of asphyxiation, as if it couldn't breathe the air. This story is regarded cautiously in scholarly circles. The notion that an Eldest wouldn't have been able to breathe modern air is a strange conclusion for a folktale to draw, and there is some evidence of the truth to this claim. However, many details of the trip--even basics that like where and when the expedition occurred--are unknown. Most tellingly, neither the site of the tomb nor the skeleton of the dead Eldest have been recovered. As complete Eldest skeletons are unheard-of, let alone one that hadn't fossilized, such an item would almost certainly be unique and of great value to any collector or scholarly institution. Even owing to its great size, the fact that no non-fossilized Eldest bones have ever been documented casts suspicion on this story as fiction. Translocation The Eldest were known to be able to work the school of magic that human wizards refer to as Translocation. No human has ever managed to duplicate the effect, and it is known only through surviving Eldest artifacts. The best-known Eldest artifact--the Astral Gate network--uses Translocation. All known human attempts to reverse engineer the Astral Gates or create bespoke Translocation spells have failed. The existence of Translocation artifacts makes it clear that the Eldest could work magics currently unavailable to humanity and implies that other unknown schools of magic might also exist.